Shirk?

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I used to be pluralist, and then, recently, I converted to Islam.
I understand that to worship any other god in Islam is a sin called shirk, but what role does a person's understanding of the nature of those gods play in determining whether the person has committed shirk or not?
I had long been used to the concept that all the different god's whose names I had meditated on were but different manifestations of the one God, presented so as to make God more easily understood, conceived and worshipped by his followers in thir particular time and place.
Therefore, if I breathe the name Shiva, while believing it to be just another name for the one God, have I committed shirk?

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Can't speak for Islam, Perplexed. But, I can tell you that Christianity believes in only one God and calling on the name of any other god (which we consider false gods) is a sin. Don't know if that helps or not.

Peace be with you.

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Maybe I would be better of as a Hindu..... I can just never settle...

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Well, good luck in your journey!

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I've been vouncing around between religions since I was 16, and I've never been completely happy with any of them, yet I'm a naturally religious person, I revel in meditations and prayers, but I've never been perfectly satisfied. I've never had that feeling that "yes, this is the right path, this is where I'm supposed to be" I was always afraid that in reality, what I might think was what God wanted was really what he most wanted me to avoid. "DON'T GO TO THAT CHURCH MY CHILD, THOSE PEOPLE ARE NOT WITH ME." "DON'T SAY THAT PRAYER, SON, IT SAYS THINGS WHICH ARE NOT TRUE"

How can I ever find peace if God won't tell me straight out what he wants? Why bother going through all these secondary, indirect, DOUBTFUL source, shouldn't he make it clear himself? And don't tell m he has, because he hasn't, all religions are doubtful, none has incontrovertable PROOF.

I know God exists, I just wish I knew exactly what does and does not piss him off.

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Have you looked into Buddhism?

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Perplexed,

I can only give you things from my Christian standpoint and I won't do that because in this particular instance, I think it would be prostelyizing.

I can only tell you that I believe God does let us know what ticks Him off. For me, if I have any doubt that it might tick God off, I don't do it because it probably would. I can tell you that if you don't feel 100% comfortable doing something, then don't do it.

Religion and a personal relationship with God is very personal. If you seek, you will find.

But, why do you need proof?

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There's an old saying: "Never test the depth of a river with both feet."

It appears you are still searching. If you do so with an open mind, seeking neither reward nor license, you will find the truth.

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yes sozobe, I have looked into Buddhism, it is one of the most beautiful religions out there.

Momma, maybe I shouldn't have used the word proof, "sure guidance" might be a better term. I don't need proof God exists, I can believe without proof. What I do need some degree of certainty about is what he wants me to do! Does he want me to bow towards Mecca and pray in Arabic? Contemplate my navel or third eye while saying Sanskrit mantras? Perhaps he'd prefer me on my knees praying in Hebrew with a tallit over my head? Or does he just want me to take a big bite out of his son?

I'm so confused, where are you God? Couldn't you make things a bit more clear?

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Why not just go to God directly, rather than bothering with what other people have developed?

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Perplexed,

There is only one thing I can tell you for sure. God wants a relationship with you, as I believe He does with everyone. So my advice is just talk to Him. Tell Him exactly what you feel and what you want Him to show you.

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Buddhism sounds up your alley.

(I'm not religious at all, but I like Buddhism a lot. It certainly seems to be the least concerned with rules and minutae and the most flexible/ embracing.)

Or, the other option is to just continue your belief in there being some ultimate power out there and take what bits and pieces of various religions resonate with you, without calling yourself anything in particular. ("Pantheist", maybe.)

Why do you need to be in a box?

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He seems ill inclined to speak to me directly, at least so far. Believe me I've asked, if he's answering, it's not in a way I can yet understand.

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More on Pantheism:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/

Quote:

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You make a good point sozobe, there is no need to be inside a particular box. So far, those religions I have publically adopted were those which I felt I needed to learn about from an insider perspective. I've never once felt that "I'm (Blank) now, and I'm going to be forever."

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I can see that, becoming [insert religion name here] to understand it better.

Once you have an adequate understanding of them, though, you can do whatever you want with the information you have.

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Perplexed wrote:

He seems ill inclined to speak to me directly, at least so far. Believe me I've asked, if he's answering, it's not in a way I can yet understand.

Do you think God will speak directly to you though an established relegion? Do you think it'll happen faster?

Maybe God is waiting to get you alone to have that private conversation.

Many people go their whole lives not having God speak to them directly, either through following a path of their own making, or though someone elses. But they keep listening.

From my personal experience, more people hear God when they seek him indivdually than through a group. That's just what I've experienced though.

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All Religions Are One
The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness
THE ARGUMENT
As the true method of knowledge is experiment, the true faculty of knowledge must be the faculty which experiences. This faculty I treat of.
PRINCIPLE 1st
That the Poetic Genius is the true Man, and that the body or outward form of Man is derived from the Poetic Genius. Likewise that the forms of all things are derived from their Genius, which by the Ancients was call'd an Angel & Spirit & Demon.
PRINCIPLE 2d
All men are alike in outward form, So (and with the same infinite variety) all are alike in the Poetic Genius.
PRINCIPLE 3d
No man can think or write or speak from his heart, but he must intent truth. Thus all sects of Philosophy are from the Poetic Genius adapted to the weaknesses of every individual.
PRINCIPLE 4
As none by travelling over known lands can find out the unknown, So from already acquired knowledge Man could not acquire more; therefore an universal Poetic Genius exists.
PRINCIPLE 5
The religionsof all Nations are derived from each Nations's different reception of the Poetic Genius, which is every where called the Spirit of Prophecy.
PRINCIPLE 6
The Jewish and Christian Testaments are An original derivation from the Poetic Genius. This is necssary from the confined nature of bodiliy sensation.
PRINCIPLE 7th
As all men are alike (tho' infinitely various) So all Religions & as all similars have one source:
The true Man is the source, he being the Poetic Genius

---

http://www.comparativereligion.com/

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Chai, you seem to think that just because I am in a group that I only speak to him THROUGH that group. That's a mistake; whether in a group or out, most communication between God and humans is on a one to one basis. Communal communication (as in the Mass, or Jumu'ah, etc) is less common, at least in my experience.

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freedom4free wrote:

All Religions Are One
The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness
THE ARGUMENT
As the true method of knowledge is experiment, the true faculty of knowledge must be the faculty which experiences. This faculty I treat of.
PRINCIPLE 1st
That the Poetic Genius is the true Man, and that the body or outward form of Man is derived from the Poetic Genius. Likewise that the forms of all things are derived from their Genius, which by the Ancients was call'd an Angel & Spirit & Demon.
PRINCIPLE 2d
All men are alike in outward form, So (and with the same infinite variety) all are alike in the Poetic Genius.
PRINCIPLE 3d
No man can think or write or speak from his heart, but he must intent truth. Thus all sects of Philosophy are from the Poetic Genius adapted to the weaknesses of every individual.
PRINCIPLE 4
As none by travelling over known lands can find out the unknown, So from already acquired knowledge Man could not acquire more; therefore an universal Poetic Genius exists.
PRINCIPLE 5
The religionsof all Nations are derived from each Nations's different reception of the Poetic Genius, which is every where called the Spirit of Prophecy.
PRINCIPLE 6
The Jewish and Christian Testaments are An original derivation from the Poetic Genius. This is necssary from the confined nature of bodiliy sensation.
PRINCIPLE 7th
As all men are alike (tho' infinitely various) So all Religions & as all similars have one source:
The true Man is the source, he being the Poetic Genius

---

http://www.comparativereligion.com/

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